1. Field of the Invention
This novel invention relates to a drain and gutter assembly, and more particularly to a novel shield for a drain and gutter assembly additionally constituted to provide a substantially vertical flange which acts as a dam to prevent the flow of excess rainwater and the like over an edge of the gutter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The following issued patents comprise a portion of the developed pertinent prior art related to this invention, to wit: U.S. Pat. No. 1,308,311 issued to Ward on July 1, 1919; U.S. Pat. No. 2,175,138 issued to Westlake on Oct. 3, 1939; U.S. Pat. No. 2,284,440 issued to Morrissey on May 26, 1942; U.S. Pat. No. 2,805,635 issued to Couture for a gutter screen fastener on Sept. 10, 1957; U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,456 issued to Berce for a flip up gutter shield on June 28, 1977; U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,134 issued to Clarkson for a hinged gutter guard on Sept. 28, 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,852 issued to Tang for a gutter guard on Aug. 2, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,508 issued to Lassiter for a drain shield for gutters on Dec. 6, 1983; and, U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,791 issued to Elko, et al. for a protective cover for gutters on June 26, 1984.
None of the above cited patent references disclose a construction of a drain and gutter shield with a means for damming water from overflowing over the edge of said gutter or which is similar to or anticipatory of the novel construction and assembly of the invention described herein.
In 1919, Ward patented a new and useful improvement to an eaves trough protector which provided a simple, strong and effective device for protecting eaves troughs from becoming clogged with leaves or other light debris by preventing such objectionable matter from entering the eaves trough without preventing free admission of the drainage water from the roof. An essential aspect of this invention was to provide a device, readily removable if desired, to present ready access to the trough to clean out any dirt or other finely divided material which may pass through the protector. Westlake, in his 1939 patent, made a significant improvement by providing a stranded eaves protector wherein the strands were diagonally disposed with respect to the longitude of the eaves trough.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,284,440 Morrissey provided an eave trough protector which was of light weight and which could be formed in and was capable of being applied in one continuous piece throughout the length of the eaves trough or gutter and thereby eliminate overlaps, seams, and splicing which has been employed prior to that time in screen type protectors.
Couture, in his gutter screen fastener patented in 1957, provided a mounting clip adapted for positioning upon relatively short lengths of the gutter screen and thereby provided means for securing a screen to a gutter flange. On the other hand, Burce, in 1977, provided the first flip up gutter shield capable of being flipped and moved to a position away from the gutter for servicing of the gutter. The Berce patent provided a flip up gutter shield which, when in the flipped up position, was completely out of the way of the person servicing the gutter. It facilitated ease of painting.
Clarkson provided an improvement over the flip up gutter shield of Berce. Clarkson provided a hinge gutter guard in the form of an elongated perforated cover plate made of relatively rigid sheet material and equipped along one longitudinal edge with a plurality of hinge straps adapted to be secured to a roof beneath the lower course of shingles thereof.
Tang, on the other hand, provided a gutter guard for an open top gutter mounted on the eaves of a building of the type having a roof covering with a peripheral edge of the roof covering adjacent to the gutter arranged so that it could be lifted slightly to receive a portion of the gutter guard. A key difference of Tang, over the prior art, is that a plastic sheet is divided longitudinally into portions, each portion adapted to be alternatively positioned under the peripheral edge of the roof covering with the other portion positioned over the gutter. The outer longitudinal edges of this sheet are formed with a narrow bendable flaps defined by fold lines and the portions of this sheet are separated by another fold line. A clip fits over the top rim of the gutter and receives the edge of the guard and its flap to hold the guard in position on the gutter.
Lassiter's drain shield for gutters is concerned with a drain shield to prevent leaves, pine needles and the like from entering the gutters and causing them to clog and required periodic cleaning and maintenance. The unique feature of the Lassiter patent is that his drain shield allows rainwater to easily enter the gutters while causing leaves, twigs and other debris to be washed over the edge of the gutter to be ground below. Also unique to Lassiter is the way in which the perforations are formed in the gutter shield.
Elko also provides a protective cover for gutters which includes an elongated and pervious sheet, wide enough to extend across at least 90% of the width of the gutter and up under a lower edge of the roofing material. However, the outer edge of the Elko cover curls downwardly and the water flow follows the curvature by surface tension to cascade into the gutter. The problem with the Elko protective gutter, which is solved by the present novel invention, is that the volume of water increases to a predeterminable level as it flows over the gutter sheld. The volume of water becomes so great such that the surface tension is insufficient to cause all of the water to flow into the gutter. Similarly, in Lassiter and Clarkson with a predetermined level of water flow over the gutter shield, the volume becomes so great so as to cause water to flow over the edge of the gutter shield and thereby substantially diminish the function of the gutter and downspout for directing precipitation off of the roof of the dwelling.
The overflowing of water over the peripheral edge of the gutter shield of both Lassiter and Clarkson is alleviated by the novel means of the present invention which retains this excess flow of water and causes same to accumulate and then flow through the perforations made available in the gutter guard and by directing the water flow along the drain shield or gutter guard.